


Pistanthrophobia

by ZarryFTZouis



Series: Chrissy's Oneshots [81]
Category: One Direction (Band), Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Vamps (UK Band), Union J (Band)
Genre: (kinda mutual) Pining, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Mythology, M/M, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 12:52:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1649276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZarryFTZouis/pseuds/ZarryFTZouis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pistanthrophobia - n. fear of trusting people</p><p>Harry makes George's life a living hell (or as they call it, Tartarus).</p><p>George needs to know who the real enemy is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pistanthrophobia

  It's another Tuesday morning for George at Camp Ace. He's spent last half-hour just gazing out into the sky, enjoying the beauty it has to offer - by that, he means the clouds. The  _aurai_  and  _nebulai_ , air nymphs and cloud nymphs, are doing a wonderful job at creating different forms and shapes of clouds he's looking at. He hasn't a clue what his sibling are doing; probably looking into Lake Azure and checking their makeup and reflections. Very typical of Aphrodite/Venus kids.

  Camp Ace, in a nutshell, is the demigods' destination if you live in Europe, regardless of your godly parent's pantheon. George himself is a child of Aphrodite whilst his closest half-sibling, Zayn, is a child of Venus. The camp director here, a demigod everyone calls Mr Ramsay, became immortal unmentioned centuries ago, and sometimes, he'd watch over other demigod kids - his words, not George's - doing their normal camp things. George remembers one time when Louis Tomlinson, a son of Mercury, organised a campfire at the Forest of Frigga, and as the words spread around camp, everyone gathered at the centre of the forest. They were sharing ghost stories, make and eat s'mores - like what mortals would normally do at campfires - when Mr Ramsay just appeared out of nowhere and stopped them. He lectured them about attracting monsters that could've been lurking about. _  
_

To George, Mr Ramsay is like that one overprotective relative you have in your family. Well, if you _have_  a family outside of demigods and mostly-ignoring godly parents. One of the reasons why he loves that quirky immortal demigod. Sometimes, he'd find himself stood outside his headquarter, with Diet coke (his favourite non-alcoholic drink) and just talk with the director for hours. That's when he's in a talking mood though. Other times, he would be communing with gods and too  _busy_ to answer to George.

  "Whatcha doing out here,  _adelfos?_ "

  The newcomer jolts George out of his morning thoughts. He should've known his siblings would look for him in his absence. It's his duty as the senior demigod ("I'm only sixteen yet you're assigning me as a senior for Aphrodite/Venus kids?" He asked when Mr Ramsay "promoted" him. "You've been here all your life so it only seems fair," was his reply before he dematerialised, leaving him alone at the Aphrodite section of the Camp.) to lead his half-siblings to each meal at the dining area - which is basically the area around the Lake at Camp. _  
_

"Zayn, I knew you'd come looking for me sooner or later," George smiles warily, petting the spot next to him so his brother could join him. It's always nice to be called "brother" in Greek, even though Zayn himself isn't a Greek demigod. "Is Brad acting like he's still in charge of Apollo kids?"

  "Surprising, no. I found him threatening to - how did he word it? - 'five words and you make me want to bury my arrows inside your chest cavity,' to Leigh-Anne 'cos he lost an shooting bet to her or summat. In his defense, he lost his position as the senior Apollo demigod only couple weeks ago." Zayn stays standing, his arms folded across his sort of toned chest.

   _Yeah, because you were caught sucking Brad off in the Forest._  George remarks inside his head silently.  _And apparently, we aren't allowed to have outdoors sex since none of us is a voyeur. And by none, I mean Liam, that son of Hephaestus who was patrolling like a good citizen of Camp Ace and told Ramsay. Woo-hoo._

  "You know, it's not a secret I got caught doing stuff with the Apollo kid. You gotta admit he's cute and really innocent looking," Zayn nudges George's shoulder in a playful manner. "S'not my fault people thought it's okay venture out into the forest in winter. Well, that's exactly why I decided to lick every inch of-" _  
_

"You sound proper slaggish, Zee!" George blushes at the mention of Zayn's - ah - experience with the Apollo kid. George's history of dating ended when he tried to go out with a daughter of Trivia and she ended up accidentally setting half his left leg ("I've a scar to prove that!" George retorted when Zayn laughed at him for the not-so-fond memory, right after the date. "Now you know not to wear shorts to a date with a demigod who can play with fire!") "I thought you were with Perrie?"

  "She's a daughter of Mars  _and_ a senior demigod. Couple dates and she already thinks I'm a slag who sleeps around with half the population at Camp Ace. Which  _isn't_  true; more like a third?" George gives him a level look. "Alright, I didn't sleep with them, per se. I wooed them and followed them to their bed so we could snog. Happy?"

  "I think it's gonna be easier if you told me why you were looking for me."

  "Oh right, I was supposed to look for you because Mr Ramsay wants to see you! Maybe he found out you've sneaked a bag of marshmallows to Camp last month!" Zayn smirks devilishly. That little bugger needs to know George is in charge of Aphrodite and Venus kids, not him! It's true Zayn is older than George by six and half months but he's been at Camp longer, practically as soon as he was cast out of Olympus after their mother gave birth to him. 

  It's not uncommon for the parent god to leave his or her child at care of the mortal parent but in George's case, his father didn't want him. Probably because he was an alcoholic or some kind of unstable man, who knows? He never met his father and the only  _family_  he ever had were the people he met in Camp, both living and dead.

  "Last time he was looking for me, which was three months ago, he told me I was to replace Giselle as the senior demigod for our sector," George look up at his brother, giving him the look that says "I don't wanna go." "Care to elaborate and help me fight the urge to drown you, Malik?"

  "Hey! It's not my fault that meanie Ares kid tried to drown me at Lake Azure and now I've fear of drowning! You can't just randomly bring that up to me!" His half-brother gives him a wounded look, which almost succeeds.

   _Rule one of being a demigod: Trust no one._  George reminds himself, a lesson he learnt in his almost-seventeen years of life. 

  "I'll go, I'll go."

~*~

  About a quarter-hour of walk later, George finds himself outside Mr Ramsay's headquarters. 

  Headquarters doesn't do justice of what kind of place it is, in George's opinion. It's a three-storey villa where only Mr Ramsay resides, completely off-limits for demigods. Only the first floor is open, and that's where Mr Ramsay meets up with the "kids under his care". George has been here countless time. mainly because he doesn't have a mortal parent he can talk to. Over the years, the immortal demigod has taken the place of a father - in a way - for him. A father who's willing to listen to all your problems but leave you because of his "business", yeah. When he's feeling nice, he would let the young demigods have pool parties at the pool/backyard area.

  "Mr Ramsay?" George calls out once he's inside, knowing the director has somewhat heightened senses. He's like a minor god, whose godly parent isn't known to anyone other than himself.

  "George, you got here early," he hears Mr Ramsay before he fully materialises in front of him. It's always nice to see him - no sarcasm intended - and by the looks of it, Mr Ramsay was expecting him. He's dressed in a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a black Camp t-shirt ("It's  _so_ not fair how Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter in the New World got he cool colours as their  _official_  colours," Zayn complained once. "But at least I look hotter than depths of Tartarus in black!") "Now, this is something I actually trust you with, young Shelley."

  George scowls at the much older demigod as he mentions his last name. His father may have renounced him, but he still carries the last name. Only part of mortal realm George still has with himself. "What's so important, Mr Ramsay? Did you discuss with the other senior demigods?"

  "No, they haven't been here as long as you have been, George," Mr Ramsay's blue eyes turn stormy grey for a split second. "You are to scout a demigod and the problem with him is that... he's my half-brother."

  "You're a demigod, you have plenty of half-brothers," George retorts before he can stop himself. "Surely he's another son of Demeter or summat?"

  "I can't believe I'm say this to a kid but... I'm not Greek nor Roman," Mr Ramsay looks serious, like he isn't kidding about this. "Just shut it ( _and to have thought he actually has an American accent_ , George notes silently as the accent Mr Ramsay has changes completely.) and listen to me!

  "You all don't know my godly parentage because I didn't want you to know. Where do I start? Oh yeah, I can start with the fact that I was born in the Dark Ages, which in fact is twelve to thirteen hundred years ago. I was born to a wealthy merchant's family, George, with two older  _mortal_  sisters who hadn't a clue my mother wasn't so... faithful to our father. That kinda sums it up, yep," he clicks the metal ball on his tongue, something that he does whenever he isn't...  _pleased._ "It was before the invention of DNA testing, mind you. But it was also an age when people were aware of magic and the supernaturals walking among them. Of course my mom knew; she was just a mortal who caught the attention of a god and voilà! I'll spare you the details of my boring mortal life.

  "Fast-forward to my twenty-somethingth birthday and my father, the godly one, decided he should pay his  _darling_  son a visit out of goodness of his heart. By that time, I was living by myself, with my own little business. I was a lowlander, George," his eyes are burning bright like twin glacier-blue flames, his posture regal. Like George is below him and he's superior. "Leaving in the lowland of Britain at that time... it was either fishing or farming and since I had fortune from my  _father-_ " he sneers the word. George gets the idea he resents the mortal in some degree. "- staring a new one wasn't that easy. It was the start of my little network of merchandise shit and Ægir came."

  "Ai-what?" George, like any other typical demigods, has ADD so paying attention to Mr Ramsay's little story has been difficult for him. "Sorry, I zoned out."

  "He's the god of sea in Norse mythology."

  "I thought there were only Greek and Roman demigods?" Confused, George furrows his eyebrows together, a sight that Zayn finds cute sometimes. "And this demigod you want me to escort is Egger's-"

  " _Ægir_ ," Mr Ramsay snaps, his eyes narrowed quite a lot. "He's like the counterpart of Poseidon-slash-Neptune but you can never say they are the same. Long story short, the Norse pantheon is different from Greek/Roman one. They are separate, with few interchangeable deities. When the Germanic lands were conquered by the Roman Empire, most Nordic demigods left their parents behind and started to revere the Roman gods. The Norse gods were unhappy that they lost their worshippers. Without people paying tributes and shit, the pantheon loses their powers, collectively. Sure, Odin and Frigga still had loads of Germanic peoples for them but the rest of the pantheon? Not really.

  "Several centuries later, Ægir mingled with my mom and well, the rest is history. He made me immortal to conserve powers, blah blah blah. I've met numerous Greeks and Romans - demigods - but they knew I was different. I tried to pass as a Greek but that was a huge fail."

  "Can we please get to the kid I'm supposed to escort?" George snaps at the immortal demigod, quite peeved that he's listening to the life story of Mr Ramsay. "I don't see the point of me listening to a lecture about the Norse vs. Greeks and Romans."

  "Watch your tone, Shelley," his eyes glow again. "What you need to know is that your life is sorta intertwined with Harry's."

  George notes Mr Ramsay's accent is back on being American again.  _Dear gods, does he just switch it on and off like that?_

  "Friendly reminder, Mr Ramsay," George raises his hand to rub his temple from the headache he got from absorbing this new information. "We kind of live in the Scottish highlands? It's a middle of nowhere. How in Hades am I supposed to get to wherever this Harry is and escort him back? Besides, isn't that the satyrs' job?"

  "That's not what the gods want. Hell, I'm the mouthpiece for  _your_  pantheon and my father rarely speaks to me. In fact, him telling me I've a half-brother was the first time he's spoken to me since the Baroque period."

  "Baroque?"

  "Just get ready and pack up for warmer weather, George. You may take one or two fellow campers for this escort mission. Oh, and please don't tell the others about my parentage. I think even Odin won't like that, and he's not exactly on friend term with my father."

 

~*~

 

  "That's stupid," is the first thing Zayn says when George exits the villa and tells his brother about the little mission he got from the camp director. "Why are you doing something a satyr is supposed to do?"

  "I think you forgot about the part where my life's intertwined with that kid's," he huffs. For sake of Mr Ramsay, he said that Harry is a son of Poseidon. It's gonna be a little bit complicating to explain the whole Norse pantheon to his brother. Harry can sort it out later. "And since I'm allowed to take a friend or two with me, I'm choosing you and Bradley."

  "Um, can I object? I don't want to go on a little field trip with the person I blew couple weeks ago," Zayn gives George a cute puppy dog face, which he has learnt to ignore after several years. "Fine, you bastard. Don't say I didn't warn you if you hear me wank to thoughts of Brad's hair."

  "I  _so_  did not need to hear the last part!"   


  Just when George decides to take a step towards Lake Azure - his siblings' favourite hangout place - he suddenly feels dizzy and everything around him is spinning around. By the time he regains his balance and surroundings, he's not in Camp Ace anymore; he can tell that much -  _only_ that.

  "Ah, never been to this realm before, have you?" A deep, slow voice greets him and it's voice he's never heard before. "My apologies, love. I thought maybe we could have a little chat, you and I."

  George turns around to the source of voice and he loses all rational thoughts.

  The newcomer has strikingly ethereal green eyes, shade so green but also reminding him of those tropical sea whose colour is rich blue-green. The smirk tugging at his corner of mouth flashes George a great view of his dimples. His hair is a mess of unruly curls, what would be his fringe pulled back by a blue bandanna. He's clad in a simple blue shirt (George notes that the colour of the bandanna and the shirt matches.) and dark skinny jeans.

  "By the lack of black, violet or orange shirt, I take it you're a wandering demigod?" A nod. "Care to tell me why I'm transported to another realm,  _love_?"

  "This is Vanaheim, where the  _lesser_  gods of the Norse pantheon hang out all the time. Sometimes, if he is strong enough, a demigod will learn to manifest himself into that realm. Then again, it takes years of practice. Welcome to the realm of the Vanirs, George."

    _He knows my name already, so I take it-_

   "I'm Harry, and I see my half-brother already told you about me. Heh, he may be immortal because of our father but he sure as hell hates being one. You  _don't_  wanna hear the entire story about it, trust me. I don't know why he's the mouthpiece for gods. It's like he's a bloody oracle," he kicks at a random rock. "Then again, you wouldn't know the answer to that, would you? You're just another Aphrodite kid who cares more about his looks and beauty more than anything. Look at you all coiffed and dressed like a fucking mo-"

  "You know, if it takes another realm for you to insult me, I wanna know how you'd do in the mortal realm," George stops the new kid - Harry - from insulting him. "And contrary to your beliefs, I'm nothing like other Aphrodite/Venus kids. Sure, I obsess over looks and fashion shite but I'm not like them."

  "You'd be surprise how many other Aphrodite children have told me that. I can assure you there were plenty," he doesn't bother trying to hide the sexual undertone. "But none were like you, George. I've been looking for you and bloody hell, your Camp has strong magic hiding its existence even from me."

  "I doubt you're a strong demigod, even though you're a child of the Big Three," George smirks, his arms crossed. "You don't look older than fifteen, Harry, you couldn't have been trained on your own."

  "Contrary to your beliefs, I'm nothing like other wandering demigods who are on their own," Harry mocks his tone with eerie accuracy. "Why do you think Josh left the Camp quite a lot for last couple months?"

  It takes a couple minutes for George to figure out who this Josh is.

  "Mr Ramsay has been training you? But how?"

  " _Mr Ramsay_  thought it was the least thing he could do to train his darling little brother, George. He also told me how our lives are intertwined, as weird as it sounds to my own ears. I can tell you I'm capable of killing you with any kind of hand-held weapons but your face is too pretty to be wasted." He winks at me. Dear gods, that kid can flirt better than my siblings. "He's taught me how to manipulate water. Pity we haven't a body of water near here... I think an underwater kiss is overrated yet romantic."

  "I'm very sure seducing me isn't on your To-Do list, Harry. Tell me why I'm in Vanilla ham-"

  " _Vanaheim._ "

  "Vanaheim," George rolls his eyes as the younger corrects him, "and wasting my precious time when I'm supposed to track you down and bring you to Camp Ace."

  "'Cos this is a place where we can have a little chat without being interrupted... let's face it, it's take ages for you and your little friends to track me all the way from the highlands, George," the smirk is back on his stupidly attractive face. "What you need to know is that I don't wanna be found. I'm perfectly fine on my own, without your silly little Camp to train me to become a real warrior or some shite like that."

  "I'm pretty sure you live close to Liverpool area judging by your accent, Harry, and I'm not going to fail Ramsay. Now tell me how you managed to snag me from Camp Ace to this realm, mate."

  "It took a toll on me but I figured it's not that much different from going to realms by myself, just an extra... luggage with me, I suppose. And judging by your face, I think it's time you went back to your little Camp. See you soon, pretty boy."

  With that, everything blurs again and when George's sight refocuses, Zayn is by his side -  _why was he lying on his back? -_  and slapping his face to wake him up. With a frown, he stops his brother from hitting him again, capturing his wrist.

  "Oh Gods, I thought you went to subspace for gods know why," Zayn mumbles, extending his hand to help him up; George takes the hand. "What happened to you?"

  "I, er, zoned out, I guess."  _Can't risk him knowing I just met Harry._  "But it's alright now! Let's get Brad and get it over with."

  "Dude, I haven't been out of this Camp since  _forever_  ago!" Excitement is buzzing from Zayn, and for a moment, he looks like a child running through the snow-covered field for the first time. "But can you reconsider about taking Brad? We can just take Louis or Niall for that matter." Niall is a demigod son of Athena. If anyone needed a strategist, he's the first in line.

  "I chose Brad because of his archery skills. And I hope you've been honing your sword skills because you'll need them as we go through the highlands. There's no guarantee monsters will ignore a couple of Aphrodite kids." Zayn's eyes narrow when George says Aphrodite kids. "Don't get hissy, Zayniepoo. It's not very attractive. And I'll smash them if you bring more than one mirror to this little trip."

  "Have I told you lately I want to kill you?" Zayn replies sweetly before striding back to our sector.

  Now, Camp Ace is in its own mythical plane, if you can call it that. Somewhere in the Scottish highlands, there's a portal only visible and trackable by demigods (and monsters but that's not really the point). Once you enter the portal, the person is transported to the entrance to a vast forest about the size of a big city. The forest is divided into sectors for each god they honour there and there's one gigantic lake at the centre of the forest they call Lake Azure. There's a second forest next to where the demigods dwell and that's where the training happens. The city-sized forest is named the Divine Forest whilst the small one's called Forest of Frigga, a tribute to the Norse goddess of prophecies and sometimes love.

  The Aphrodite/Venus sector is at the northeastern area of the Divine Forest, closest to Mr Ramsay's villa. 

  George hurries back to his sector to pack up, the feeling of being watched burning every nerves of his cells.

 

~*~

 

  "Thank the gods Mr Ramsay gave us some mortal cash! I'd have died if we had to walk all the way to England!" Zayn exclaims dramatically the moment the trio step outside of the portal to the highlands. George gives him a shove with his shoulder as Bradley adjusts the bow-gun nervously. Unlike his other siblings, Brad uses the bow-gun, which is like a miniature crossbow that's designed to look like a gun and there's a trigger for shooting the arrows. George has heard couple of Hephaestus kids complaining about making special arrows just for the former senior son of Apollo. "Anyways, George, you might wanna look away since I'm really tempted to snog and do more stuff with Brad just about now."

  "And I don't feel the same, go wank or summat," Bradley scoffs, then scowls when Zayn ruffles his curls. "Hey! You can't just randomly hit my hair I spent over half-hour just brushing!"

  "And that just proves Apollo kids are as vain as Venus kids," Zayn plops the back of Bradley's head again, this time resulting with the bow-gun aimed at his leg. "Woah, woah, woah, calm down, Simpson. I meant no harm."

  "Need I remind you we're all in this together? Don't fight with each other after one blowjob gone wrong," George cringes inwardly at the mention of blowjob. Just imagining his half-brother doing something is mentally scarring enough, he needn't say it out loud ever again. "Mr Ramsay told me we should head south, since he's English like us and all that."

   _One lie wouldn't hurt them. I can't tell them Harry contacted me himself and gave himself away on purpose._  He adds to himself silently.  _Who knows if any of them works for the giants? Or Gaia for that matter?_

  "Ugh, I was hoping he'd be a hot French guy living in England," Zayn sighs forlornly, earning a slap on his back from Brad. Great, they're going to kill each other by the time we reach Harry. "What did you say his name was?"

  "Harry, brunet with green eyes, apparently," _and how captivating his eyes were in person..._  "And I'm very sure he's been testing his demigod powers."

  "How are you so sure, Shelley?" Bradley plays with the end of his weapon, the arrow no long notched so George takes that as a good thing. "Isn't he eleven or something close to that?"

  "I've been told-"  _saw that-_ "he's fifteen, close to his sixteen. I don't really know, Brad. If you wanted more information, you should've asked Mr Ramsay before we left."

  "And why are we doing a satyr's job? Is it because we have to save his demigodly hide from monsters?" Brad all but hisses out the words. Why couldn't George have chosen more willing companions? Ugh.

  "Because we're trying to set good example for the younger campers? Think about it, Brad. This'll look good for your recent - ehm - change of position and maybe he'll put you back in charge. Maybe." George adds quickly when the youngest of the three's eyebrow starts to raise.

  "You and your bleeding way with words, Shelley."

  Little did they know, both George and Zayn were charmspeakers. It was a rare gift children of Aphrodite/Venus had, a power of persuasion. Zayn, being the badass he is, has been abusing his powers for years and got himself out of trouble. Like when both George and his half-brother were out in the mortal world for a little outing - just going to the zoo, mind you - and they had to fight off a pack of Lycaon's wolves. The mortals saw them slaying  _normal_  wolves and were about arrest them. Zayn used charmspeak to get away with nothing. They were ten at the time.

  "Yeah, I guess I'm a great public speaker," Zayn snorts at George's reply. "C'mon, I want us to be out of the highlands before sundown, which is not even three hours from now, Simpson. Hurry your arse before I kick you into moving faster."

  "Fine, you bossy son of a bitch," Brad complies and George feels a little bit guilty for putting his powers behind his words. Zayn looks at him like he's amused. Normally, he's the one who's abusing charmspeak.

  "So, Brad, how about that snog session?"

   _So he's resorting to charmspeak for kisses? That's_ so _low of him!_

  "Hey! What part of 'I do not want to kiss you' don't you get?" Brad slaps Zayn across his face, like proper slaps him with the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoing throughout the meadows. George takes a mental note of wondering how sounds can echo when there's nothing to be bounced against. 

 _Maybe the_  aurai  _are up to something..._

 They walk in silence for half-hour before Brad raises his bow, aiming at pretty much nothing. Zayn looks around before there's missiles -  _what in Hades?_  - coming in their direction. Brad curses in Ancient Greek before he shoots couple of his arrows into the direction the missiles are coming from before it stops. George recovers from the initial shock and checks the missile things that land beside him.

  "It's a bloody manticore," Brad growls as he plops down next to the children of the love goddess. "And I've no idea if there's a chance we can kill that thing so if any of you can talk the monster into  _not_  killing us, that would be much appreciated."

  "Or we can run."

  George grabs his friends' hands and start darting off into a random path, hoping they're headed south. Zayn, thank the gods, realised how bad the situation was and followed him behind.

  The three demigods run for ages, until they can't anymore and arrive at the edge of a forest. Luckily, they are greeted by a cab - chauffeured by a mortal, no less - and they're more than willing to get inside.

  "Where to, young'uns?" The driver is at least fifty years old with a thick Scottish accent. George thanks his mother silently that he isn't wearing a plaid kilt like those telly shows he's seen. "Awfully dangerous for you lo' to be around by yourselves, innit?"

  "You're going to drive us all the way down to the borders to England, no charge," George puts his powers of charmspeak behind his words. Bradley raises a brow at that but doesn't say anything. Well, anything in English.

   _"You're a charmspeaker?"_  The son of Apollo hisses in Greek, earning raised eyebrows from the driver.  _"You failed to mention that, you fucking_   _bastard!"_

  Like the smart demigod he is George ignores Bradley spitting obscenities during the entirety of the ride down south.

 

~*~

 

  "England, my sweet homeland!" Zayn goes as far as kneeling down to the ground and kissing it, soon grimacing when he gets dirt on his lips. "Urgh, remind me never to do that. You think we can detour to my mum's? I haven't seen her since I was nine, you know, which is when I was sent off to Camp Ace."

  "We're on an escort mission, Malik. We can go see her  _after_  we find this Harry kid," George huffs out some air upward, making his fringe fly around a little. "Besides, visiting her might put her in a little bit of danger." 

  "I'm a child of Venus, I'm hardly a threat," Zayn rolls his eyes at his half-brother. George knows better though. Unlike most Aphrodite/Venus kids, Zayn  _does_  take part in combat training. Sometimes. "Whatever, let's go retrieve Harry."

  "Oh, I'm perfectly fine. Please, go on ignoring me," Brad rolls his eyes at the lack of questions he's receiving. "Don't you wonder why we haven't encountered any other monster than the manticore?"

  "We got lucky?" Zayn took that moment to retrieve his mirror from his rucksack to check his reflection. "Dammit! My hair's a mess after that car ride! I demand someone find me a gel!"

  "Vain as ever, Malik," Brad shakes his head as he uses his arrow to draw a loosely-resemblance of map of England. "So, we're at the northernmost part of England right now, aren't we?" Two brothers nod their heads. "Now we have to either walk - which is inevitable - or take mortal transport to where Harry is."

  "I say we take a transport since I don't wanna mess up my hair any further," Zayn raises his hand in objection, using the other to try to fix his hair. "And how idiotic of me to leave the hair gel back home?"

  "You were stupid enough to blow me out in the open, Malik," Bradley retorts, rising up to his feet. "C'mon, let's try to find civilisation so we don't have to sleep in the woods or summat for the night."

  "You liked having my lips around your dick, you twat," Zayn grouses as he follows Brad. 

  George still can't get rid of the feeling of being watched. The three of them walk in silence - minus Zayn complaining about the harsh winds de-styling his hair - until they reach an empty-looking bus stop.

  "Well, I guess we gotta wait for the next bus-"

  Without any warning, Brad pushes Zayn down and shoots an arrow into the direction of where the now-detectable growls are coming from. Zayn curses in Latin from ruining his favourite black skinny jeans but when he sees a dead body of a lion, the look on his face is priceless. Brad continues to shoot arrows until the growling/hissing noises stop.

  George counts five dead cats.

  "You're welcome," the son of Apollo lowers his weapons as Zayn recovers from his initial shock. "Now, what were we talking about again?"

  "Gods, I could kiss you right now!" And Zayn does exactly that. George fights back the urge to roll his eyes when Brad kisses back a little, then pushes Zayn back with a dry cough. "Fine, you goof. I guess I should befriend my hand for next couple days..."

  "Or for rest of your life," Brad retorts quickly. How those two had a sexual interaction merely two weeks ago... George will never understand. "Better get started because my mouth isn't going anywhere near your body ever again."

  "Oh, but my body is burning for your- hey!" Zayn's last word comes out as a squeal/yelp when an arrow lodges itself in his thigh. Being the good brother he is, George rushes to Zayn's side and hands him a piece of ambrosia square to heal him. "That was uncalled for!"

  "You cost me my senior status as an Apollo demigod so yeah, I won't call this 'evening out.'" Bradley hisses out before turning on heals. "I'm gonna go scout out this area, I think we travelled far enough today."

  "Who put you in charge?" All the emotions drain out of George's words, his words barely audible. "I'm the one Ramsay came to - okay, who was summoned by him - for this little recruit mission. I think it's only fair I give out the instructions."

  "Or what, son of Aphrodite? You're a pussy just like-"

  George draws his dagger out just like that, the tip poised at the throat of the taunting archer. "Continue your sentence and you'll learn what I'm capable of, Simpson. I'm not your average Aphrodite kid. Zayn, you take the first watch after setting... whatever camp you can manage."

  When George closes his eyes, he wishes there would be no dreams.

 

~*~

 

  "Wow, you're stupider than I expected if you actually decided to sleep," a deep, slow voice greets him in his dream. "Hello, little cousin."

  "Harry," George growls out the name, wondering if he's in another realm again.

  Except he isn't.

  This time, it seems they are in England, with a snowstorm brewing. Typical English winter. Harry is dressed in a black duster, a dark grey beanie, and a pair of brown combat boots. His oversized hands are covered by dark green mittens.

  "Too much of a work to transport me to Vanaheim this time?" George feels a smirk tugging its way out. "I must say, it's so delightful to see a snowstorm for once. Back in the Camp, Mr Ramsay rarely lets it snow. But from what I gather, it snows quite a bit in England."

  "Ah yes, I nearly forgot about the detail where your mortal parent - your father, in this case - abandoned you... I'm sorry to hear that. I grew up with my mum and my mortal sister, both of whom I still love. They'll understand my leaving was probably the best."

  "You fled from your house?"

  "George, I left when I got attacked by hellhounds on my way back home from school couple months ago. I realised then that I was not to stay with my mortal family. Anything can happen to them, and they're my weakness."

  "How'd you-" George stops mid-sentence. He already knows the answer to his question. "How long have you been contacting with Ramsay?"

  "Pretty much since I left home. But that's not why we're having this little chat whilst you're asleep, George. Gods don't make us dream about practical strangers just to chat about lost families and whatnot. I can assure you that I think what Josh foresaw is bullshite."

  "He's a mouthpiece for the gods, Harold. I've my reason to believe his words," he says through clenched teeth. Why he is defending the unpredictable camp director, he hasn't a clue. Maybe because Ramsay feels something like a father to George. "And we're going to get you, Harry. This place isn't safe for you without a magical barrier to shield you from monsters. How many times have you been attacked since you left home?"

  "I've learnt to disguise myself, thanks for the concern, but to answer your question," Harry stops for a second, as if counting each encounters. "Maybe four times? I got lucky I've my father watching over me."

  "Gods aren't allowed to communicate with their children, I know that much."

  "Dear George, things are different over here with the Norse pantheon."

  With that, George wakes up.

 

~*~

 

  "Someone's grumpy," Zayn mumbles when George barks at his friends to hurry up and get ready to leave at once. Brad complains about how he just made fry-ups for everyone. He decides they've time for breakfast so they stall for ten minutes to eat the breakfast Bradley cooked for them. Zayn kept throwing lewd looks at the son of Apollo, which the lad gladly ignored.

 _If this is how it's going to be like for rest of the mission, I really should've picked Niall or Louis instead of Bradley,_  George thinks to himself at the precise moment Zayn attaches his lips to the side of Bradley's neck. The attacked boy curses in Ancient Greek but George could have sworn he moaned before he pushed Zayn away.  _Weird._

  "Not now, lovebirds," George shoos at Zayn, who narrows his eyes at his half-brother. "And please tell me why none of you let me take a turn at the watch?" He raises a brow; no one answers. "Alright, am I missing something?"

  "Nothing that's important," Zayn replies too quick, too quick to gain suspicion. "Ooh, would you look at the time! It's nearly quarter to ten. We really should get going."

  George opens his mouth to say something, than closes it, knowing it's futile. He gathers his stuff and takes a look around their campsite, making sure they leave no trace behind and heads south.

  Hours of walking and a grumbling Zayn later, they reach a small town ("I see the modern technology!" Zayn exclaimed at the sight of streetlights. "Gods, I missed this place." "Friendly reminder you were thirteen when you were sent to Camp Ace, Zayn." "Screw you too, Shelley.") and they waste no time in entering it. A sign saying "welcome to Blackpool" indicates they have travelled quite far from the highlands.

  "Hey, isn't this close to where Liam is from?" Zayn asks, swatting at a honeybee that seems to be attracted to him. "Gods. Do you think I can charmspeak to an insect to get off me?"

  "Great, I'm travelling with two charmspeakers," Bradley complains about how he will be forced to do pretty much anything, which Zayn shushes. "Anything else I should know about?"

  "My tongue is quite, HEY!" Zayn screeches indignantly when George plops him on the side of his somewhat styled hair. "It's hard to maintain good hair without the proper tools and you have to ruin my hard work?"

  "Yes, since you were about to exaggerate on your... oral skills," George scoffs as the three of them walk into a rather vacant looking street. "Anyone else suspicious about how  _un_ populated this place is?"

  "Could be a trick of a monster, why?" Brad raises his weapon, almost out of habit. Only a gust of wind answers his hostility. "And how come we got attacked by monsters only twice on our way here? Anything could've attacked us when we were in the bloody car."

  "Something's up... we don't even know what the giants and Gaia planning... and as far as Mr Ramsay is concerned, the gods are busy saving their own arses since giants are gaining so much power."

  "Did you get that from Olympus Daily?" Brad doesn't even try to hide his sarcasm. "Moving on. Since we're in a city, I guess we can go find a motel or someplace we can spend the night at. I don't know about you, but I think it's very stupid to sleep in the streets when there are motels and other places we can sleep in." He throws a look a Zayn, who merely narrows his dark amber eyes at the son of Apollo.

  "No objections from me. You, George?" He shakes his head. "Gods, I missed proper beds and shower stalls!"

  The three of them walk for a couple miles before they find a motel called "Chambre des Vampires". Zayn laughs at the name for a good half-minute of time before sobering up and entering the place.

  Apparently, they weren't kidding about the vampire stuff. The walls are painted black and George spots cut-out shapes of bats littering the lounge area. The front person is dressed like what people describe as "a typical vampire", all-black attire with fake fangs and all.

  "Well, it's not everyday I find a group of young people looking for rooms," George can tell the woman thinks they're here for some kind of gay orgy stuff. "Three beds?"

  "I think two is fine. Oh, and you'll give us free breakfast in the morning," Zayn uses his charmspeak, earning a whispered "charmspeak abuser" in Greek from Bradley. "Also, you won't be charging us."

  The poor mortal just nods her head and gives us the room key. "Room 314, turn left after you exit the lift, my dears."

  "Did you have to use charmspeak?" Brad chastises Zayn. "There's a reason why Ramsay gave us four hundred quids, you dickwad." 

  "Well, why pay when you can manipulate your way into  _not?_ " Zayn scoffs as Bradley raises his weapon. "And put that thing away, no one needs to get hurt." George can sense the force of charmspeaking put into his half-brother's words.

  "You bloody wanker!" The son of Apollo hisses as he lowers his bow-gun against his will. "You're just abusing your powers!"

  "You call it abusing, I call it using it for my own good," Zayn smiles at Bradley like he's just explaining two-plus-two-is-four. "Now, let's get comfy. There's a reason why I asked for two-bedroom suite, not a three one."

  "There's no way in Tartarus I'm sharing my bed with you," Brad growls at Zayn, which George finds quite funny. Zayn can literally talk his way out of this mess. "How about you and your brother just share the other one?"

  "Shame, I'm a known great cuddler." Zayn pouts, giving the others a look of a wounded puppy. "I'm taking the first shower."

  George waits until both Bradley and Zayn are done with their showers before stepping into the bathroom himself. The moment he peels off his t-shirt and jeans, he feels that familiar feeling of being transported into another realm.

  "Did you really have to?" George growls as he is greeted by a grinning Harry.  _He's dimples._  "I was about to take a shower!"

  "And what a great view you're giving me! Shame you aren't completely naked. I would've had my way with you, love," Harry braces his arm against a random tree, raking his eyes up and down George's body. "So you guys are in England now. I didn't have to search for you in another bloody plane this time."

  "Well, you sound like you've a problem with that," George folds his arms across his chest. "And how are you able to track me?"

  "I'd years of practice, Georgie."

  George notes that this time, Harry is dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, bright red t-shirt and the same combat boots. He hasn't any jumper or any kind of outerwear on him this time.

  "Judging by your outfit, I'm guessing you were indoors before coming to this realm," George earns a bout of slow claps from the son of Ægir. "Why am I summoned to Vanaheim again, Harry?"

  "Since you're close to where I am, on the Earth plane, of course, I thought I'd give you a courtesy heads up. Well, close-ish. I'm headed more south but maybe your buddies might find me before then," Harry's eyes burn like twin emerald flames. "Now, I'm guessing Josh didn't tell you the  _entire_ story of how he became an immortal, or rather, what happened afterwards, hm?"

  "None of my business, nor do I want to know," he knows it's a lie but George doesn't want to be in accord with whatever Harry says. "We're in Blackpool right now and you're close to that... that's enough information for me to find you."

  "But I've couple of things to sort out before I'm dragged to Camp Ace! Josh gave me a task!"

  "You're lying," George narrows his eyes at the other demigod. "If that were true, Ramsay would've sent us on a mission couple days later."

  "That's because he didn't expect you three to close on me so fast, you dimwit!"

  "Enough with the fight, children."

  George finds himself being lifted above ground and Harry seems to be in the same position, with his eyes narrowed. The newcomer is quite tall, dressed in dark grey skinny jeans and a varsity jacket. There's a large streak of blue hair mottling his dyed-blond hair.

  "Mr Ramsay," George growls out, flailing mid-air futilely. "You've known this entire time I was being contacted by Harry."

  "Of course I did. I can see every possibility from happening, remember? And to confirm what Harry was saying, yes, I did ask him to do a little task for me but you and your friends were faster than I expected," the older,  _stronger_  demigod's eyes glow like twin glaciers, something George has learnt as a bad sign. "But I guess I'll do that myself."

  George feels that familiar tug in his guts before he's transported back into the mortal realm. He's lying on the floor, again, but this time, he isn't alone.

  There's another demigod in the bathroom with him, and he has a curly brown hair with strikingly green eyes.

  "Fuck," George curses out loud before Zayn and Bradley rushes into the room, raising curious brows at the new kid.

  "Who is he and what is he doing here?" Zayn asks, his dagger raised.

  "Mr Ramsay decided to transport Harry's arse to us." George supplies helpfully.

  "He didn't mention how fit our little Harry is," Zayn throws a lewd look at the newcomer, whose green eyes are wide with fear - and distrust. "Hullo, my name is Zayn. And you are?"

  "I'm just another nameless demigod your arsehole of a camp director decided to rescue from danger," Harry rolls his eyes, the initial fear completely gone from his eyes now. "What do you need my name for?"

  "I was referring to your godly parent. We already know your name."

  "I guess you'll find out later."

  "One thing," Brad raises his bow-gun, aiming it at Harry's arm. He doesn't shoot it but his look is lethal. "You never say bad of Mr Ramsay. He's a way of finding out things."

  "I'm pretty sure I know how my-"

  George shakes his head, letting Harry know they can't learn he's the only half-brother Mr Ramsay has.

  Bringing Harry back to Camp Ace is going to be hard, George can tell that much.

 

_Three years later_

 

  "Why is it that every time I come to this lake, you're always here?" A deep, slow voice jolts George out of his thoughts. He should have expected, since this has been happening for last couple years.

  The newcomer has tantalising ethereal shade of green eyes, a set of alluring dimples and curly hair that has died a little over last forty months. He's also a lot taller than the time when he first came to Camp Ace, at close to six feet now.

  "Harry, why are you even here?"

  Instead of verbal reply, George gets a physical one. Without a warning, a pair of soft, pink lips descend to his, a large hand cupping his cheek. George sighs at the contact, leaning towards the son of Ægir. Harry grins into the kiss, keeping the kiss light.

  Over last three years, the camp director, Mr Ramsay, decided it's for Harry's own sake he should keep his parentage a secret. To the other campers, he is simply a son of Poseidon/Neptune. No one questioned it. How else would he be able to control water and breathe under water?

 _Oh, how ignorant these people are,_  George thought to himself when Ramsay announced Harry, the new demigod, as the son of Poseidon.  _They believe in everything their leader tell them._

"Are you ready today?" Harry whispers against George's lips; he shakes his head no. Harry pulls away from the abrupt kiss.

  George admit he has fallen for the curly haired bastard but his reputation precedes him. Some campers say he'd almost as many lovers as Zayn did - which is saying a lot - and even fewer others say the two slept together.

  The girls - and some boys - call it the Curly Attraction, the tendency to have fallen for Harry Styles.

  George isn't an exception to that.

  "One day, George, I will win your heart completely. One day you'll see, you will learn to love me."

  "Is that after or before you sleep with all my siblings?"  _How can I trust you?_  "You can't - and won't - change, Harry."

  Harry replies with a chaste kiss to the top of George's shaggy hair, then rises up to walk away from the nearly-tearing up boy.

  After good half-hour of staring at the Lake and giggling  _naiads_ , George gets up and returns to his campsite.

  Only to be greeted by an angry looking Zayn.

  "Please tell me you hadn't anything to do with my hair gel going a wee bit bad," George covers his mouth with his hands not to giggle at the sight of Zayn's hair kinking out in every direction. "Since you know very well I don't share my hair products with anyone  _and_ know where I keep them, that is."

  "Well, at least you know not to look for me if I go missing for a long period of time without any notices," George giggles, hiding the sound with a cough. "C'mon, it was for a good laugh!"

  Zayn only throws a pillow at his half-brother. "I'm gonna wash my hair,  _again_ , since I've a date with Bra-" He stops himself short.

  "'Bra'?" George doesn't miss his brother's mistake. " _Adelfos_ _,_ I caught that. Do you mean Bradley?"

  "No, I meant Brandon. Now stop harassing me."

  George waits another three-quarter hour waiting for all his siblings to get ready for breakfast, then lead them to the dining area.

  It's basically what you expect from mortals having an outdoors meal, at the patio of summat, except it's twenty times larger and there's a pyre for the gods. The demigods would offer a small portion of their meal as an offering.

  "Well, isn't this a great morning?" Mr Ramsay sounds somewhat cheerful. Judging by last couple weeks, some demigods think that Mr Ramsay found himself a lover, someone within the camp. Whenever the gossipers say about Ramsay's potential lover, Niall's eyes wander off and George finds himself suspecting the blond. But Niall and Mr Ramsay? Those two are very different, how can anything happen between them? "Morning to you all, you little scoundrels. ( _Who even says_ scoundrels _anymore?_  George snorts inside his head.) You survived another day, la-di-da. I didn't hear much from the gods, but I've been told we have a spy for Gaia amongst ourselves. Remember who the real enemy is."

  "Oh really," George scoffs as Zayn nudges his shoulder. "What? You choose now to listen to Ramsay?"

  "He's our director, of course I do."

   _No way..._

  "Zayn, can I meet you at the entrance to Forest of Frigga after breakfast?"

  His favourite half-brother nods his yes.

 

~*~

 

  "You're absurd!" Zayn's half-laughing, half-crying. Well, crying is from all the laughter he's having. "Me and Ramsay? I'm starting to think your trip to the border outside Camp Ace is affecting you."

  "I'm dead serious, Zayn," George growls, wishing his brother wasn't an arrogant arse. "How long has this been going?"

  "Oh, you were serious," Zayn stops laughing, his dark amber eyes flickering. "Look, I'm not with Ramsay since..."

  "Since?" George raises a brow.

  "Since... well fuck it. Since I'm with Brad," Zayn says with a sigh, his hand flying up to scratch his stubble. George can feel his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

  Zayn and Bradley?

  "I thought he held a grudge against you ever since he got knocked down from being the senior Apollo demigod though?"  _Gods, I can't even trust my own brother. Half, but still applies._  "Explain."

  "We've been seeing each other in secret, Georgie. He knew how everyone thought we were hostile against each other so yeah... He decided a secret relationship is the best. Where in Hades did you get the idea I'd be dating Mr Ramsay? You know how creepy blue eyes I find of his own. Eesh, they give me the shivers."

  "Wouldn't Brad be mad you told me?"

  "Nah, he'll understand when I tell him I've been falsely accused. Wanna go to Lake Azure? It's summer and four days from your big nineteenth! One more year and poof! You're into your twenties,  _adelfos_ ,"

  "Need I remind you you'll reach your twenties a good five and half months before I?" Zayn shoves at George's shoulder playfully, a soft growl-like sound rising from his half-brother. "And yeah, Lake Azure seems like a good place. Gods, it's the end of July and feels like it's mid-August already!"

  Couple weeks later, George and Zayn gather their siblings and it takes less then twenty minutes to lead them to the Lake. What can he say? Lakes are the best place to show off your beach bodies and less conspicuous to get things better.

  Couple weeks because Zayn wanted to do some... things with Bradley and George didn't want to get on his brother's bad side.

  Of course, there are some uninvited guests.

  "You really thought I wouldn't come, babe?"

  George rolls his eyes at the familiar low voice, the one owned by a curly haired tall bloke who's been trying to seduce him for years.

  "Fancy seeing you here, Styles," George is close enough to splash some water to the newcomer, momentarily forgetting that the other demigod can't get wet. He watches couple of his siblings wrestle in the water, and takes a mental note to check if Hailey and Meghan are fighting over the hairbrush incident again. "Who invited you?"

  "I invited myself. And the  _naiads_  want to say they don't like the ruckus you're bringing. Too loud and shite," George is half-tempted to push the unexpecting demigod into the water now. "And might I add, you look dashing in your swim trunks."

  He blushes. George fucking blushes that Harry complimented him. He decided to wear his checkered beige trunks, a plain clothing that he thought might go by unnoticed. He was, quite obviously, wrong. Then again, he wasn't really expecting Harry to show up.

  "Do you always try to be charming or is it to get into my pants?" George challenges the beautiful boy sat very close to him. He can feel the minty breath (mingled with tropical scents) fanning against his cheeks. "Tell me, Styles."

  "You are a special case to me, love," Harry leans in close, his long fingers brushing a stray strand of hair away from George's eyes. "A beautiful one at that."

  "Cut the chase, I know you want something,"  _my virtue._  He adds silently inside his head. "Just leave before I do something stupid."

  "You're the sunlight in my life, Shelley. Never forget that."

  The son of the sea god kisses George's forehead and rises, straightens his shorts and leaves. 

  "What was that about?" Zayn tries to push Bradley away from his neck, which is very unlikely. "He was too-"

  "Annoying to the point of killing him?" Brad supplies for his boyfriend. For someone who pretended to hate Zayn's guts, their actions are disgustingly couple-y. To prove his points, the two lads engage themselves into a snogging session.

   _Snogging_  is a really loose term. It looks more like they're eating out each other's face.

  Eek.

  "Hi, George!"

  Now, George is used to random nature spirits talking to him when he's least expecting it. 

  This one's a bit different.

  He has brown eyes, kind of hazel, and his hair is brown. His skin is covered by scales (is that even possible?) and he can see gills protruding from his neck. And when he's speaking, there're flashes of sharp teeth.

  "Relax, I can practically smell your alert," the scaled-lad raises his hands in surrender. "I just happen to be couple-century old boy who ate a magical herb and became what people nowadays call a merman."

  "I'm supposed to believe that, riiiight," George knows it's the truth. Gods, why did Harry leave? He's good with aquatic creatures. "Why are you here?"

  "I know Harry isn't who he says he is. He smells different," the other person hisses out, his eyes going all slitted and stuff. "Whoever he told you he is, don't listen to him."

  "Can I at least get your name?"

  "They called me James in my time but now, I go by Jaymi." The merman - Jaymi - waves his tail before disappearing into the water, leaving circles of water vibrations. George notes silently that Jaymi has a point or two.

  Shaking his head, he arises himself and walks towards the northeastern section of the lake, where the sun shines the brightest. Just like any other half-English demigod (and anyone who's been living in the unfortunate turfs of the UK), he's learnt to bask in the glory of sun.

  "Hello gorgeous. Always good to see you around."

  George wishes he had a pillow to bury his face into.

  Not long after Harry's arrival, another demigod came to the Camp and it was rumoured that his mother is Nemesis, the goddess of revenge and balance.

  (How are revenge and balance even related?)

  "Hello, Elijah." George greets back out of goodness of his heart. Or manners, whichever comes first. "Last time I checked, this lake party was for children of love and their invited friends only."

  "I happen to be great friends with one of your sisters... Phillipa, was it?" He waves a hand at the giggling blonde. Ugh, he needs to sort his problems sooner or later. "Though I prefer to do brunets over blonds."

  That's the thing with Elijah. He's tall, dark-haired, green-eyed and extremely extrovert with his sexual prowess. Constantly, the rumoured to be son of Nemesis would try to hit on George. Normally, he'd just go away after a couple minutes of disinterest.

  "You do realise my mum is the goddess of balance, right?" He also likes to confirm that his mother, indeed, is Nemesis but that's debatable. George only nods to appease the taller demigod. "Do you know what that means?"

  "I'm not some vampire with sparkling skin, just spit it out," George is still laid on his back, enjoying the warmth from the Sun. "And not ruin my good mood."

  "That means it's my gods-given duty to make sure everything stays in tact. You know exactly what I mean, Shelley. Stay away from son of the sea."

  Having that said, George is officially in a bad mood. Again.

 

~*~

 

  "It's been a fortnight, Georgiiiiieeeeee," Zayn whines like a child, ironic since he's older by some months, shaking at George's side. "Revoke that rule you imposed on us!"

  "What kind of a senior demigod would I be if I did?"

  Two weeks ago, following the advises from one immortal and a relentless demigod, George declared that his siblings are forbidden to fraternise with the other demigods. Since he had to say that at the dining area, Mr Ramsay only raised one dark brown brow, but didn't say anything against it.

  "You're just saying that because Simpson is refusing to sleep with you," George deadpans, huffing out a breath. "This is good for our sake."

  "Because you actually believe in that Elijah kid? C'mon, he knows nothing about the balance shite. You're doing this only because you're afraid of Styles!"

   _Okay, now seems like a perfect time to murder my brother._

  "What makes you say that? You've nothing on me, Malik," he grits out, anger burning him up. "I don't feel anything for that sodding bastard."

  "If you didn't, you wouldn't be sneaking out at midnight just to see him by his campsite,  _adelfos_ ," Zayn crosses his arms, a serious look entering his eyes. "Do you love him?"

  "Love," George's eyes sear into Zayn's. "Is worthless. Especially for people like me."

  "You're a child of the goddess of  _love_ , George! Can you hear yourself talk?" Zayn stands on all of his near-six-feet of glory, looking more lethal than an average child of Aphrodite should.

  Then, there are rumours about Zayn.

  How he's heritage of descendants of Hades.

  Given the mysterious aura Zayn has himself enveloped in, that's very possible. Sometimes, when Zayn is near the Greek fire, the flames would flicker Stygian black.

  That shouldn't happen without the presence of a child of the Dead.

  "If anyone's harbouring secrets, that's you! You never confirmed anything about your sisters!" George is yelling at Zayn, rousing some of their siblings who haven't left the house. "I don't know if they're as mortal as you say!"

  "Why does that matter to you? Do you really think my great-whatever-grandfather really is Pluto? Do you know what that'd make me?"

  The last question takes him by surprise. What does Zayn mean by that?

  "It means that I've more up my sleeve than you think," his so-called brother answers the question that's written all over his face. "Let's just go eat lunch like we were supposed to ten minutes ago. I don't think the other demigods are thrilled about waiting for us."

  George swears he saw a tiny black ball of fire as Zayn exits, shadows seeming to coalesce behind him.

 

~*~

 

  It's not like Harry to wait for everything to fall under his plan. Well, rarely anything happens as he planned out but this time, he's help.

  And that help comes in form of his half-brother, Josh.

  Very inevitably, Josh has a gift of foresight and Harry can't ignore the feelings of his stomach turning into battleground for butterflies every time he lays his eyes on the pretty demigod.

  But with beauty comes a price to pay.

  Whilst Josh was a demigod who came to his powers only because of a bastard of their father, Harry knew what exactly he was getting himself into. He practically volunteered for this life. After all, his dear half-brother summoned the hellhounds to his house so he could get away from them, no?

  "This isn't what I said we should do, Styles," Josh's glacial blue eyes bore into his own undaunted green ones. "Leave Zayn out of this new plan!"

  "And why's that, dear brother?" They rarely call each other  _brother_ , never mind  _dear._  Endearments are something that's left Harry the moment he stepped out of his mortal family's life. "Zayn is just another child of Venus. In case you've forgotten, he's practically powerless."

  "I've seen how he is, Harold. I can feel his powers and those... those aren't of a regular child of Venus'. Have you heard the rumours circling around the boy?" Harry nods reluctantly. "I've seen him use the black fire even, the flames of the Underworld. He's a grandchild of Hades, that one."

  "Did you actually see that, Ramsay?" The older, taller demigod's eyes burn. He hates the last name his mortal father left him. "It's impossible for non-children of Hades to use fire of the Underworld."

  "Do you question my level of truth?" At six-three, Josh easily towers over everyone. He stares down at Harry, which he hates.

  He should be the one in charge, not the other way around.

  "Why is it important Zayn isn't the one I sacrifice for the ritual? If he's a child of the Underworld like you say, his powers should feed Her greatly," Harry argues, trying to convince his brother. "What does he mean to you?"

  "He knows about you, that's what." 

  With an inhuman hiss, Harry turns around to see that the dark skinned demigod is here, at Vanaheim.

   _How is a Roman demigod here?_

  "Are you that stupid?" Zayn chuckles darkly, shadows around him shaking a little. "I'm a master of dimensions. I've been tricking little Georgie all along."

  "What have you done to my boyfriend?" The word slips out of Harry's mouth. "What the fuck have you done to him, you bleeding tosser? TELL ME NOW!" The last part has all of Harry's powers directed at, making the little pool of water - that has about 300 metric tonne of water - to swell up, ready to be stricken down at Zayn.

  "Dear Harry," Zayn's eyes glow unnatural shade of black as a column of black flame erupt around the demigod, like an aura. His words are void of any emotions, absolutely stoic. "There's so much you've to learn about your brother, or his real intentions."

  The last thing Harry sees before he loses his consciousness is a pair of ice-blue eyes, another of brown-black.

 

~*~

 

  "Isn't this the best way to greet someone?"

   _Ugh,_  George groans in his sleep. It's like his subconsciousness is attracted to Harry's! He used to enjoy his little naps at half-two, before Harry waltzed into his life three years ago.  _Why can't he leave me alone?_

  But there's a note of urgency in the curly haired boy's words. Something bad is about to happen.

  "Do yo mind? Someone tries to have a dreamless sleep, y'know."

  "I'm in trouble,  _you're_  in trouble, babe," when Harry says 'babe' this time, there's a lot of affection behind it. "Don't trust anyone! Don't trust your-"

  " _George!_ "

  As he grouses, waking himself up, George throws his pillow at his half-brother, who\s stood at the door with a ridiculous grin. He only burrows deeper into his sheets, but Zayn has other plans.

  "Ge'rroff me!" George squeals like a little girl when extra weight is put on top of his body. "'M too old for this!"

  "I've news for you, bad ones,  _adelfos_."

  "Oh, I've been awake for thirty seconds and you decide to post-sleep good mood," George jokes good-heartedly. "Go ahead, nothing can be that bad."

  "It's about Harry."

 _"Don't trust anyone!"_  Harry's words flash through George's brain. "What about him?" He asks instead.

  "He seems to have disappeared from Camp Ace. I'm sorry, I think he wasn't meant to stay with us." The way Zayn says it... it's like he's truly sorry about this. "You don't deserve this."

  "But I... I thought I loved him! I thought- I thought I meant something!" It's a full-blown hysteria. George is laughing and crying at the same time, not sure why he's like this. "He and I, we'd something! We share something, Zayn!" He just sobs into Zayn's shoulder, as the older's hand rub his back in a soothing way. "Fucking Hades, Zayn, I loved him."

  "It's okay but first, George..." Zayn nudges at George's shoulder, making him look up. "Look at me."

  George does what his half-brother tells him to do.

  He sees shadows around Zayn enveloping the both of them, the last image on his mind being something sprouting from Zayn's back.

   _That shouldn't be possible_ , George says to himself as he's knocked unconscious.  _Harry..._


End file.
